HANAN ASHRAWI: A WOMAN OF HER TIME

Profiles Hanan Ashrawi, former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization
during the Middle East peace talks with Israel, but who later turned down a position in
the new government in favor of continuing her efforts on behalf of peace and human
rights. In this personal portrait, Ashrawi recalls her childhood as the youngest of five girls
growing up in a Christian Palestinian family, her education at the American University in
Beirut and the University of Virginia, her first meeting with Yasser Arafat, and offers an
insider's account of the intricate peace negotiations and the challenges now facing the
Palestinians in building a viable homeland state. The video details her present activities
with Jerusalem Link, a feminist alliance of Palestinian and Israeli activists, as well as with
the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizen's Rights, showing how this 47-year-
old mother of two manages her responsibilities as political activist, writer, wife and
mother.